


The Apocalypse's Afterparty

by clausbook



Series: Freed Spirits [1]
Category: Super Smash Brothers
Genre: I'm not cruel enough to tag every character and franchise involved, Literally everyone is here - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:55:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24461656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clausbook/pseuds/clausbook
Summary: After the defeat of Galeem and Dharkon, the spirits and Smashers involved celebrate, pushing aside their worries for one night of fun. Yet no matter how hard she tries, Samus can't stop thinking about the chaotic future they will all face, with over a thousand spirits stranded from their worlds stuck in the World of Smash.
Series: Freed Spirits [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1766863
Comments: 10
Kudos: 13





	The Apocalypse's Afterparty

**Author's Note:**

> This is a prologue to a fic I'm working on that goes by the same name (hence the title). I figured I would take advantage of a review contest in the Super Smash Prose discord server to get some feedback on my writing before I dive right into the real thing. I also like to pre-write my fics before posting them, so posting this so quickly is new territory for me. 
> 
> Light (implied) spoilers for Metroid: Other M (if anyone still even cares about this game lmao), the Metal Gear Solid series, Breath of the Wild, and Mother 3.
> 
> Edit: I've decided to put the rest of the fic on hold for the meanwhile, since I've starting focusing on another Smash fic that's of a much smaller scope (which I kinda need, a story with this many characters is a LOT to consider). However, this prologue is still very much enjoyable as its own oneshot, so I've decided to change the title from 'Freed Spirits (Prologue)' to what its actual chapter name would be.

Samus turned to the bartender, “Give me the hardest stuff you’ve got.” When the Alloy bartender hesitated, she clarified, “Anything that isn’t Phazon.”

As the bartender turned back to get her shot, Samus looked around herself. Hundreds of spirits who had been pulled into the World of Smash against their will were now celebrating the defeat of Galeem and Dharkon that day. It was nice to see so many people from several worlds come together, friends and enemies alike, for a common cause. Even if it was completely out of necessity. And spite.

Even so, it didn’t change the fact that she now had to face several of her old foes that she thought to be gone for good. She noticed that many of her enemies were absent from the party, making her optimistic that she could avoid them by waiting the storm out until it was time for them to be sent home. But even that provided its own share of issues. Most of her enemies were dead, would being sent home inadvertently revive them? And if they stayed dead, what would that mean for any innocent deceased spirits? Would they be sent back to their deaths? Or would they be revived based on the judgment of the Hands?

The bartender quietly slid Samus her shot, which she hastily took before motioning for another. Just thinking about this mess was giving her an ulcer. Samus decided to make like the rest of Smash and diverted her attention from the inevitable fallout of “World of Light” to the celebration happening right in front of her.

From the bar, she could see the dance floor, which although massive, could hardly contain the sheer amount of spirits. Every table within the vicinity was packed with friends and foes alike chatting together, as if they had all been allies in the worlds they came from. It was quite frankly surreal seeing the likes of Mario and Bowser of all people chumming it up in this world. Granted, she was aware that they had an odd friendly-foe sort of relationship back in their world, but in Smash, they were vicious in battle against each other. Then again, it WAS a fighting tournament after all…

Speaking of, she thought of what this meant for the whole lot of Smash. An unexpected multiversal near-double-apocalypse meant delays for the tournament itself. For the Hands, that meant delays in profits that they would eventually get, but for the Smashers, that meant delays in one of the most pivotal events in the entire connected multiverse. Several of them had waited for months, if not years, to fight in Smash.

To be a Smasher was less about being the strongest within one’s universe, but more so to be at the peak of one’s universe. To be a Smasher meant being the figure everyone in one’s universe would look to as a prime example of the perfect resident. To be a Smasher was the ultimate honor, and to have it delayed was a massive slap in the face of the entire cast that was painstakingly brought back specifically for this tournament.

Needless to say, it didn’t take long for two dartboards to be set up near the bar with Galeem and Dharkon’s faces on it. And it didn’t take long for those dartboards to be punctured with several holes.

“Hey Samus!” Captain Falcon snapped her out of her inner monologue and sat next to her, “Five bucks says you can’t hit Galeem’s core from here.”

She responded by looking Falcon dead in the eyes while launching a missile at the dartboard, smashing it into pieces. The spirits hanging around the dartboard looked down at the charred pieces before throwing her a salty look.

“Yikes,” Falcon grimaced as he gave a $5 bill to Samus, “You alright there?”

“No, I’m not. Thanks for asking.”

He leaned against the counter, “Still upset that a bunch of your enemies came back from the dead?”

“No, I’m upset that the curtains here don’t match the carpet,” she downed her next shot before sliding the glass across the counter.

“Aw, come on. Don’t get all mopey with me, it’s not all bad!” Right as he finished that sentence, the sound of glass shattering and Luigi’s scream could be heard across the dance floor. “Just gonna ignore that. Come on, why don’t you have some fun tonight? Eh, Samus?” He elbowed her as she gave him an exhausted look.

His cheery attitude dropped, “Listen, I know all of this sucks, but why don't you take a load off for a bit and enjoy this? Who knows when we're gonna have another chance to party like this.”

“This world was built purely for recreation, Doug. Parties are always happening here.”

“Yeah, and you never join any of them. C'mon, what's the worst that could happen?”

“...You’re not gonna leave until I join the dance floor, are you?”

“Nope! Now c’mon!” Captain Falcon shot out of his seat and posed, pointing to the dance floor, “Show me your moves!”

Samus got up with a stretch, “I’ll give you your money back if you don’t say that again for the rest of the night.”

He grabbed the $5 back from her, “It’s a deal!”

The two of them made their way to the crowded floor, pushing their way through the swarm of spirits. Right as they made it to the dance floor, Samus felt something run into her.

“Ow!” the small child yelled after slamming his head into her suit. As he recoiled back, a woman came straight to his side.

“Hey, watch where you’re going!” an irritated 5-Volt yelled at her, before kneeling down to her son’s level, “You too, sweetie, you can’t just run amok in a place like this!”

9-Volt rubbed his head, “Ow… that’s gonna leave a mark… sorry ‘bout that- HUH?!”

Once he took a look at Samus, his jaw dropped, “Oh my gosh, you’re Samus Aran!” he grinned widely as his body shook with excitement, “I’ve played all of your games like, three billions times over! I even got all the secret endings!”

As 5-Volt tried to reel her kid in, her attitude completely changed from Peeved Mom Mode™ to content and sweet, “Sorry to bother you, he’s a big Nintendo fan. You can imagine how exciting tonight has been for him.”

Samus nodded, “I could tell.”

“Say kid!” Falcon interjected, “How’d you like to take home two autographs from two of the greatest bounty hunters in the multiverse?”

9-Volts eyes lit up as he gasped, “I would owe my life!”

Samus, disturbed, backed off, “It’s okay, you can keep it.”

“Falcon Autograph!” Captain Falcon shouted, signing 9-Volt’s helmet.

After Samus gave her autograph, 9-Volt jumped in excitement and took off his helmet, looking at the signature that now adorned his headwear. “I’ll never take this helmet off again…” 9-Volt said, hugging his helmet, which was now off his head.

As 5-Volt tugged 9-Volt along the crowd, Samus smiled. It was always nice to make a kid happy, even in the smallest of ways. It was upsetting to think about how the kid and his mom had to have been forcefully torn from their worlds in order to be here, but seeing the large smile on 9-Volt’s face at least warmed part of her cold, dead heart.

“Aw, is someone’s cold, dead heart being steadily defrosted?” Captain Falcon prodded.

Samus’s smile quickly turned back into a scowl, “Alright, I’m done here,” she said, walking away from the dance floor.

“Wait, Samus!” Captain Falcon called after her, “We haven’t even started dancing yet!”

“Never said I was gonna actually dance. Peace.” And with that, she put her helmet on, turned into a Morph Ball and rolled through the crowd to get back to her shot. She almost felt bad about ditching Captain Falcon when all he was trying to do was get her some social interaction. Almost.

Just as she made it through the sea of spirits, she unfurled herself, only to see herself on the exact opposite side of the room she meant to be on.

‘The hell?’ she thought to herself, ‘This ball is bugged-’

She stopped short in her thoughts upon looking at the two spirits hanging out next to the doorway. It was Adam Malkovich and what seemed to be a younger version of herself. Seeing Adam in his proper military uniform and herself in her trainee attire slapped her in the face with both a wave of nostalgia and memories that she had long since repressed.

Samus tried to Get The Fuck Out Of Dodge before they noticed her, but to her dismay, her younger self called for her right as she turned her back.

“Other me! Samus! Over here!”

Samus cringed as she slowly turned around to see her younger self waving to her while Adam kept his stoic expression locked on her. She sighed, walking up to them, “Yes. Hello. Hi.” She spoke in an exasperated tone.

Her younger self turned to Adam, “See, I knew there was another version of me around here! I told you!”

Adam said, “I suppose you’re right. Then again, it did seem odd to hear so many stories of the ‘Legendary Bounty Hunter Samus Aran’ when you’re still training in the Federation.”

Young Samus turned to her older self, “I have so many questions to ask you-”

“And you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t answer any of them,” Samus quickly shut her down, “It would be irresponsible to threaten the possibility of a paradox even more than we are just by interacting right now.”

Young Samus’s eager grin turned into an expression of bitter disappointment, “Aw, what?”

“She’s got a point,” Adam said, “This situation is extraordinarily unprecedented. Spirits from different timelines, spirits who have been deceased, and of course, multiple spirits of the same individuals are all inhabiting this world all at once. It’s a miracle that we’re all still standing here unfazed by all of this.”

“Yeah, well, that’s just how Smash works,” Samus crossed her arms, “Tear apart some power-hungry god’s scheme and then party afterwards like nothing happened, brushing aside any consequences of the mess until the last minute. That’s the Smash Brothers way!” she sarcastically chimed.

“This is a frequent occurrence?” Adam asked.

“It’s the second time it’s happened.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Young Samus spoke up, “I still can’t get over how you’re- I’m a ‘Legendary Bounty Hunter’ in the future. Can’t you give me any sort of insight of what the future is like without causing a paradox?”

“No.”

“Pleeeeease?”

“No.”

“Pretty please?”

“It’s not happening.”

“Oh, come on! Isn’t there anything you want to say to me about the future? Anything? Any regrettable choices that you made that you could prevent just by talking to me-?”

“This conversation is over,” Samus stopped her short and quickly morphed into a ball, rolling back into the crowd to lose more unwanted attention.

“No, wait!” Young Samus called after her, running through the crowd in a chase.

Samus ignored her and dipped under a food table in an attempt to lose her. Although she managed to get out of her sight, she quickly realized she wasn’t alone. She looked over to the inconspicuous box next to her.

“Snake, what are you doing under the table?”

“I could ask you the same question,” he grumbled.

“You first.”

“I’m avoiding a very awkward encounter with some old family. You?”

“Ditto.”

Snake sighed, pulling out some chips he had managed to swipe from the table, “You know, this wouldn’t be so bad if we were allowed to smoke in here. Without it, this shit is getting unbearable.”

Samus thought about the shot waiting for her at the bar, “I hear you, man.”

“What was even the point of all of this? Was this really just an attempt for straight-up world domination by two opposing Gods from far away worlds?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. No one knows what Galeem and Dharkon really had planned for all of us,” Samus unfurled herself and kept low, “But does it really matter? All that matters to me is that it’s over. And once all these spirits get sent home, everything should go back to normal.”

Snake sighed, “Just like Subspace.”

“Mhmm.”

The two of them stayed in silence, taking in the sights and sounds of the party. When Snake gestured the chip bag over to Samus, she quietly declined. Snake shrugged and began munching away.

Samus looked out towards the dance floor. Amidst the several spirits, she saw a squad of Inklings flopping on the ground in what they called a ‘Squid Party’. They were all parked right next to the stage, where Off the Hook was on standby, hosting the variety of jams playing that night. Next to them was a crowd of spirits surrounding Sonic and King Dedede, who were both freestyle breakdancing in the middle of the floor. The crowd reactions gave off the impression that Dedede was winning, but considering how many Waddle Dees and Waddle Doos were intermingled within the crowd, it was safe to say the results were at least somewhat skewed.

Amidst those chilling on the surrounding tables, she was able to pick out the table Snake was avoiding. The table consisted of Big Boss, The Boss, EVA, Ocelot, and Strangelove, all of whom seemed to be casually bantering away. Still, even without what she knew of Snake’s world, she knew that Snake being seen by that table would likely lead to some form of a disaster. She couldn’t help but feel bad for him.

“Didn’t any of your allies get stuck here, or is it just them?”

“Yeah, a few made it through. Haven’t been able to find them yet, but we’ve been keeping up through Codec.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah.”

It was quiet between the two of them again. Hating this silence, Samus decided to speak off her chest, “What do you think will happen to them?”

“To who?”

“The spirits who were dead.”

“Hell if I know. That’s one of the million burning questions that I just figured we’d ignore until the time came to address it. If I had to guess, I’d imagine they’d go right back to being dead. Which I’m sure would be good news to you.”

Samus sighed, “Yeah, maybe for me. But what about the spirits who didn’t deserve death?”

“See, that’s the part of that question I’ve decided not to think about. Ideally, I would assume that they would make it back home alright, but then that would beg some sort of morality system that determines the fate of a spirit’s life based on their previous deeds, or something. Maybe for say, the three Ridley’s that came back to life, it’d be easy to just send them back to die, you know, being space pirates who’ve committed mass genocide with no remorse. But what about spirits with a more murky background, like…”

“Like Big Boss?”

Snake closed his eyes, “Among others.”

Samus looked away, “Snake, I-”

“Get Kirby away from there!”

Although she was grateful for the interruption, Samus looked up to see where the noise was coming from, only to see Meta Knight flying over the crowd to a commotion next to the bar. “Don’t let him drink that shot!” he yelled.

Samus’s blood ran cold, “Oh shit- We’ll talk later Snake, I’ll be right back!” Before Snake could reply, she ran out from under the table and dashed over to the bar. She knew full well of Kirby’s capabilities and knew that letting him get a hold of her shot would lead to untimely disaster.

Just as she and Meta Knight made it to the bar, Bayonetta was already next to him with Samus’s shot glass in her hand. “Now, now,” Bayonetta chided Kirby, “You know you shouldn’t take what isn’t yours, don’t you darling?”

With guilt ridden over his face, Kirby slowly nodded.

“Good. Besides, you don’t want to have any of this adult stuff anyway. It’s no good for a little one like you,” Bayonetta pulled out a lollipop, “So why don’t you have something that is good for you instead?”

Kirby’s guilt immediately faded upon being given the treat. He happily ate the lollipop in one bite before scampering away from the bar and back to his friends.

Meta Knight turned to Samus, “What were you doing leaving your drink unsupervised like that?!”

Samus crossed her arms, “What were you doing leaving Kirby unsupervised?”

Meta Knight was fuming, “I-!”

He was interrupted with the sound of Bayonetta clearing her throat. “I would hate to interrupt this clearly important quarrel that’s about to start, but I actually came here to let everyone here know that fireworks are starting in a few.”

Samus seemed confused, “Fireworks? Seriously? Where’d they find the time to set that stuff up?”

“Time is irrelevant in the World of Smash, Sammy. You of all people should know that.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Well, if there’s fireworks, I supposed I would be remiss to… miss it,” Meta Knight said, briefly wondering what fucking hack is writing this god awful dialogue.

“Right on!” Captain Falcon shouted in an extremely loud voice, scaring the shit out of anyone in the nearby vicinity, “Everyone should join us outside and watch lights explode! It’s gonna be Falcon Rad!”

And so, upon the insistence of a couple Smashers that were Way Too Into It, the spirits began filing out of the building in excitement. Having had enough social interaction to last a lifetime, Samus stayed put, “Yeah, I’ll just... watch from the balcony. I’ll catch you all later,” and left for the door next to the bar before anyone could say anything.

As Samus came upon the second floor balcony, she looked over the view from the Recreation Building. Even the field was crowded with spirits, albeit they had the luxury of being able to space themselves out more. She noticed how some groups of spirits had already laid out some blankets, indicating that many had elected to forgo the party itself in favor of simply catching up with each other on a peaceful night.

Beyond the field, she saw spirits inhabiting the buildings surrounding the field. All of these buildings were a part of the formally named Interversal Headquarters of Smash, or as it was lovingly nicknamed by the Smashers, the ‘Smash Mansion’. Each building had its own designated usage, from the Convention building at the front, dedicated to meetings, announcements, and any other official matters concerning Smash, to the Recreation building, which was where the party had been hosted, dedicated to entertainment and leisure.

To the Northeast of the ‘Mansion’ itself was the Mid-Air Stadium, where the tournament was hosted via simulated battles. Although the Stadium wasn’t functioning due to the delays, Samus could still see spirits inhabiting it, namely spirits who could fly who decided to sit on the edge of the stadium to get a more interesting view of the fireworks.

Looking back at the field, Samus began picking out the groups she could see as she waited on the fireworks. The many Links and Zeldas that had been brought back had gotten together in one group, along with their friends and allies from their respective times. They may have been far off, but Samus could still see the bright grin on the face of the Link from Smash, as he listened to his Zelda talk adamantly over something Samus couldn’t hear. They were accompanied by what she assumed to be the Champions of Hyrule. Samus was well aware of the fate that befell their version of Hyrule, and while she was more than happy to see all of them together again, she couldn’t help but feel worried for them when it was time for them to go home…

Samus shook her head, trying to rid herself of the anxiety that had been plaguing her all night. She decided to look to the next biggest group, which involved nearly every amicable spirit from the World of Fire Emblem. It never truly struck her how massive that world’s influence on Smash was, even upon the news that there would be seven fighters from there, until she saw exactly how many spirits had been pulled from that specific world. Granted, they were far from the largest amount of spirits pulled from any world, but it was definitely easier to pick them out due to how similar they appear next to each other in comparison to the more varied appearances from other worlds.

“Yeah, there’s still too many of them,” Captain Falcon spoke up behind her, causing her to jump.

Samus turned to face him, “Dude, you have got to stop sneaking up on people like that.”

Captain Falcon laughed, “Sorry, sorry.” He came up next to Samus, “Man, you’re trying really hard to be alone tonight.”

She shrugged, “What’s new?”

There was silence between them, with the only sound coming from the distant sounds of spirits talking with each other on the first floor. Samus closed her eyes, “I’m sorry if I seem like I’m pushing you away. I appreciate you looking out for me tonight, even if I haven’t bitten the bait.”

He patted her on the arm, “Hey, it’s the least I could do. You still hanging in there all right?”

She smiled faintly, “Oh I’ll be fine…” as her smile slowly faded, she looked towards the sky, “But it’s not me I’m worried about…”

Captain Falcon walked to the edge of the balcony and looked through the crowd. He then stopped, grinned, and turned to Samus, “Hey, I know a sight that’ll cheer you up.”

She walked to the edge of the balcony, “Bet.”

As Captain Falcon pointed his thumb towards a small group of spirits, her heart stopped at the group he was pointing towards. With all of them gathered in a small group, nearly every spirit from the World of Mother was gathered near the fountain. More specifically, among them was Lucas and his friends and family, including those that had passed away.

Samus had seen the faces of several Smashers light up brighter today than she had ever seen before, but none shined greater than that of Lucas’s. He may have been playing a simple game of stone-sheet-clippers with his brother, but she knew that today was nothing short of a dream come true for him. She was beyond happy for him, just as she was happy for everyone else who had been blessed with reunions with their loved ones that day.

“Hey, Samus?” Captain Falcon asked. She broke out of her thoughts, seeing Captain Falcon lean against the balcony railing as he looked at Lucas and his family.

“Yeah, Doug?” she answered.

“Is it weird to stare at a random family lovingly like this?”

“Oh yeah, definitely,” Samus smiled, “But everyone else is doing it, so I wouldn't get too self-conscious about it.”

Just as she said that, several heads that had been locked on Lucas’s family suddenly looked in a different direction. Someone even started whistling inconspicuously.

Mercifully, that was when the fireworks began to go off. While fireworks weren’t anything special to Samus, she could only imagine how spirits from more medieval worlds were reacting to them. Then again, many of those worlds had magic, so it made her wonder whether they would be impressed either.

But their impressiveness isn’t what mattered to her. Fireworks were always nice, but the real sight to behold that night was seeing over a thousand spirits from hundreds of worlds get together in one unanimous celebration. A moment like this, with no feuds or petty quarrels, is a rarity in the chaotic World of Smash. With her long-time friend from Smash by her side, Samus savored every second of this moment, knowing that it would soon come to an end.

And come to an end it did. And with the end, came forth the questions and anxieties everyone had been desperately putting off until the last minute.

“So!” Master Hand began, centering himself above the fountain planted in the middle of the field, “How did you all enjoy the party tonight?”

He was met by a resounding amount of cheers from the spirits.

“Great! Great. That’s great.” Master Hand cleared his throat, “So, I’m sure you’re all wondering what happens from here. And, believe me, Crazy and I have been working hard to sort all of this out. While you were all partying hard- as you should, you deserve it- we were up in our office slaving away at potential solutions to this… conundrum. It’s been an extraordinarily difficult process, but I can assure you that I believe we have everything sorted out now.”

“Get to the point!” a noticeably deep voice shouted. People in the crowd turned to them, saw it was King Dedede, before turning back to Master Hand.

“...Right. As you know, and as I would like to strongly reiterate to you all, the assault that led you all here was not caused by either of us. Not this time at least,” he mumbled that last part before continuing, “This assault came quite literally from nowhere! Well, not literally nowhere as in, like, the Nowhere Islands. Not that any of you would know what that is-”

“Get to it already!” Multiple people yelled.

Samus noticed how all the people urging Master Hand to stop stalling were Smashers. The fact that Master Hand was stalling for time was a really bad sign. It was always an indicator that the Hands had fucked something up, and that they knew that whatever news they would have to spill would land them in deep shit. That said, she didn’t think that the Hands would actually go out of their way to do something extreme like executing innocent spirits. They may have been a disorganized mess, but she didn’t think they were cruel.

“Alright, so what I’m trying to say is, is that… it’s gonna be some time before you all get to go home.”

Concerned murmurs could be heard across the crowd.

“I’m sure you’ve all noticed how there are quite a few spirits here who would normally, well, NOT be found here under normal circumstances. You know, spirits from different times, multiple spirits of the same individuals, spirits that have been dead, the kind of stuff that would normally lead to a paradox in any other world.” Master Hand’s voice perked up, “Fortunately! This is not like any other world. This is the World of Smash! Where impossibilities become possibilities!”

“That’s not a slogan,” Sonic was heard talking to his friends on the next balcony over, “We have never used that slogan here. Ever.”

“To prevent any further paradoxical situations from reaching all of your worlds, Crazy and I will be developing independent gateways to each of your worlds via cartridges. Upon inserting these cartridges into our standard Dimensional Terminals you already use to get here, they will send you to a designated safe point within your world, all without interfering with the connections of any other timelines and some such.”

“So basically, you’ll all get teleported straight home!” Crazy Hand’s voice chimed in, before teleporting right next to Master Hand, “...Sorry, my body lagged.”

“Anyway,” Master Hand continued, “it’s going to take quite a long time to develop these cartridges, considering we have to develop them for every single one of you, which would amount to…” he trailed off, “Good lord, just how many spirits did Galeem drag in here? What, is there like, a thousand of you? Two thousand?”

“Either way! That’s the plan!” Crazy Hand shouted, “So you better get comfy here, ‘cause this world’s gonna be the only world you’re gonna know for a loooooong time!”

The worried murmurs of the crowd began to grow in volume.

Master Hand spoke up, “As for where you will all be staying, well… I’ll leave that to all of you to figure out. Because quite frankly, neither of us have time to figure out rooming arrangements for the whole lot of you.”

Crazy Hand spoke, “And besides! You’re all adults, right? Most of you? Some of you? Ah whatever, you guys can figure it out between yourselves. Anywho, toodles!”

And with the snap of their fingers, they teleported away.

...Before Master Hand teleported back in to say, “Oh, by the way, the Ultimate tournament has been delayed indefinitely,” before teleporting away again.

All of this caused an uproar among the spirits. As nice as the World of Smash was, everyone wanted to go home even more. Many Gods and leaders came to worry that their nations and kingdoms could very realistically be drawn to anarchy without their rule. And the Smashers? They had become fed up with this.

“I can’t believe this. This is the same stunt they pulled with Subspace, but worse!” Falco cried out.

“So what, I’m just supposed to deal with these assholes until the Hands can get their shit together?” Dark Pit yelled, pointing at the Gods he wanted nothing to do with.

“I just wanna go home…” Ness said. Paula was patting him on the back as a thin effort to comfort him during his homesickness.

“Grr… I’m sick of this tournament getting delayed! I wanna punch something already!” King K. Rool yelled, before subsequently punching a nearby Ridley in the face.

Ridley recoiled back, but quickly recovered and angrily shrieked at K. Rool before breathing fire in his direction. Fire that managed to catch a good chunk of the field on fire, causing many spirits to panic and attack each other in self defense.

Everyone on the balconies just looked over the madness. Captain Falcon turned to Samus, “Uh, should we get involved?”

Samus, meanwhile, disregarded the fight happening below them and cracked open a cold one. After the news she just heard? She’d need a lot to get through the night.

* * *

The night ended with several spirits getting sent to the medical ward in the Fitness Building next to the Mid-Air Stadium. With the sheer amount of spirits involved, the ward quickly reached max capacity, leading many spirits to get their injuries tended to via healer spirits that were providing aid.

Samus decided to use the chaos as an excuse to leave immediately. Many spirits were now wandering the buildings, trying to find Smashers that were willing to lend them a place to sleep, as all Smashers had individual dorms for their own use. Being introverted, peeved, and drunk, Samus naturally wanted no part in discussing room arrangements, and hoped to make it to her dorm as quickly as possible to avoid any more unwanted encounters.

But alas, it was not to be. As Samus staggered to her dorm in the Veteran’s Complex portion of the apartment buildings, she saw the same two familiar faces that she had seen earlier that day standing by the entrance to her dorm.

Young Samus waved to her older self and Samus considered just turning right back and just going back to the bar to spend the night. She drove away the temptation and looked at her with exhaustion, “What.”

“Okay, so I know we’re not supposed to interact much, but we’re kinda strapped for places to stay…” Young Samus said.

“The only other spirits from our world are Ridley and some being calling itself ‘Dark Samus’,” Adam said, “Although I am unfamiliar with this ‘Dark Samus’, I think it would be safer to avoid a being whose radiation levels crash my scanner.”

Samus just continued staring at them, before moving to the wall next to her door and banging her head against it.

“Uh, are you okay?” Young Samus asked.

“No. Come on in,” Samus said before scanning her hand using the terminal next to her door and then shooting it open. Thankfully the door installed was from her world, so it was meant to be opened by force, but she knew in her current mood, she would have busted open any ordinary door regardless.

As she let the two of them in, she said, “Ignore the mess. I usually don’t have guests in here. Ever.” And sure enough, her place was practically trashed. Pieces of junk were haphazardly strewn across the floor, several cords crossed the floor with no rhyme or reason, and several documents were messily stacked on top of a desk.

“Before you say anything, I haven’t had time to clean this place,” she said, looking directly at Adam, “That’s just what happens when you’re a ‘Legendary Bounty Hunter’ who’s also fighting full-time in the multiverse’s top fighting tournament.”

“I wasn’t going to say a word.”

“Mhmm.”

As the two spirits cleared off some places for them to sleep, Samus said, “By the way, there’s some heavy confidential stuff in here, so don’t go taking anything out of this room.”

“Must be a lot of confidential information,” Adam muttered.

Samus squinted her eyes, “Heard that. I’ll get some beds in here for you guys tomorrow, considering I’ll have nothing better to do with this tournament delayed,” she said, growing increasingly irritated the longer she went, “In the meanwhile, you guys’ll just have to make do with the couch and chair.”

Adam looked to Young Samus, “Samus, you can have the couch.”

“Are you sure, sir?”

“Certain. When the day breaks, we should help future Samus get this place organized for us staying here temporarily.” He looked over to the other Samus, “It’s the least we can do for staying here on such short notice.” He looked back to Young Samus, “Any objections, lady?”

Young Samus gave Adam a thumbs up, “No objections!”

Hearing all of this again made Samus wish Galeem just killed her instantly instead of having to face her memories like this.

“Don’t stay up too late,” Samus said to both of them. She deactivated her Varia Suit and got into bed, “I’m going to sleep. Have a good night.”

“You’re gonna sleep in your Zero Suit?” Young Samus asked.

“What part of ‘Have a good night’ do you not get? I’m sleeping now,” Samus said, rolling away from the two of them.

The rest of the night was silent. The other Samus and Adam went out of their way to stay as quiet as possible, which Samus did appreciate. Even in her drunken state, she still felt somewhat bad for how she had treated them. It was just hard, she thought, to face the two people from her past that she had been trying so hard to forget.

She shut her eyes tightly. She did many things in the past that she vehemently regrets now. Several embarrassments and catastrophes laid in wake for her impromptu roommates, and it ate her alive knowing that she could stop it all if only she fessed up. Then again, was it irresponsible to try and change the past? Would it cause more complications for the Hands by giving them information to change the future-?

Samus winced as her head pounded from a headache. ‘Not right now,’ she thought, ‘Don’t think about those things right now. Just go to sleep already.’

And so she did. As she drifted off into an uneasy slumber, she found herself in a vivid dream. A dream filled with light, and a voice desperately trying to reach her. No matter how hard she tried to listen, she couldn’t make out what the voice was saying. Despite the incoherent voice, Samus had one coherent thought that dream:

‘God I am wasted.’

**Author's Note:**

> I wanna try and make an average chapter for the full fic not as long as this lmao, there was just a lot of set-up for me to do. Also I hope ya'll enjoyed Samus being the main character while it lasted, because she's not about to be one for much longer. In the real thing. Not that she dies or anything lmao, I'm not cruel. Ya girl's just a shameless Mother fan who craves Claus content so take a wild guess where all of this is going.
> 
> Anyway, constructive feedback is appreciated! This was very much a way for me to test the waters, like I said, before I commit myself to a massive multi-chapter fic that I've planned for ages, but never got around to writing until now. Also I like prewriting my fics before uploading them, so it's gonna be a while before ya'll see anything else from this. Anyway, deuces!
> 
> Edit: As a side note, I'd like to thank the people from the Super Smash Prose Discord server for the input they've left on this fic! It's helped me put a lot of things into perspective, and they've all given me a lot of confidence in my writing. You guys are the best!


End file.
